Talking machine combined with a still projector and film strip therefor



1952 J. H. COUTELEN 2,581,079

TALKING MACHINE COMBINED WITH A STILL PROJECTOR AND FILM STRIP THEREFOR I Filed Feb. 12, 1948 W/WWW IN V EN TOR. Jugs/v HENRI COUTELEN Patented Jan. 1, 1952 TAEK'IN G Z'MACHIN E COMBINED =WITH A STILL EPROJECTOR AND FILM "STRIP Julian Henri Coutelen, Levallois Perret, IiIsrance,

assignor, by 'mesne as Corporation, 'a -corpora Application. February 12,

signments, to "Dukane tion of "Illinois 1948,,Seria'l NO. 73754 .In France .Jul-y'25, 19.39

''Section' 1, Public L aw 690, August .8, 11946 *Patent'expires July 25,1959

( Cl. ;88-Z8) 6 Claims.

.meetings, lectures, Veto installation-s have @been :previously .employed comprising a talking machinewhich renders-the-textof thermeetingxor Llectureand a projector which causes to appear upon-a screen a:series :of still images serving as illustration. For example, .with reference to a .meeting onart, certain reproductions of paintings or with reference to a lecture on travel, views of landscapes or monuments.

Inapparatus used up to the present time, the change of the images had been effectedmanually by an operator. The object .of .the present invention .is ,an apparatus comprising a phonograph and .a projector ,in combination, the changes of the picture .being producedautomatically at the desired instant during themeeting or lecture. .For this purp se, :the honograph drives by .means .of .a continuous movement .in gsynchronism with the movement of .thesupport of the .soundrecord, disc or .film, etc.,.a film .carrying marks which traveling past .asuitable ,element of the pro,ie,ctr...release theomovement of a driving device which each time substitutes 'one image for another one in front of the projector.

The following description and the accompanying drawingsshowfby way of example, various methods of embodiment of the'invention.

Fig.1 is a diagrammatic section showing the assembly of'the view changing device.

"Fig. 2 shows 'a film which 'serves as carrier of the images and at the same time serves for "ac- 'tua'ting the operating mechanism.

Figs. 3 and 4 "show in -elevation and'viewed in two planes at right angle to each other, an escapement system'actuating the operating mechanism.

FigsJS andS show electric controls'of the escapemen't device.

"Fig. -7 is a clutch "and transmission system or the operating mechanism for continuous movement with the system, the motor being actuated synchronously by the phonograph.

Obviously, any suitable carriers may be used, for example, glass plates, for the images, the substitution :of 'one plate iected by any known mechanism which would be actuated through 'the :passage of marks carried 'by the film :at a predetermined point, the film having a movement synchronous to that of the phonograph. Furthermore, the success'iveimages 1 cou'l'd be applied 'on a film,-a;nd in-that case it 'is advantageous, "as shown in Fig. 1, to employ a single film only which carries "the images and also carries the markings, the latter being lo-- cated at the edge of the film.

for another being eitween the pro ector andthe --element which releases the image changing mechanism.

The film I isninwound'from-a' rel 2and-passes iintothe projector -3, then on a sprocket 1 actuated by the operating mechan'ism which causes it to .advance to produce the cha-ngesof image. It then v forms a loop at 5 of sufficient size and .passes at =6 in v front :of the element :actuated by the markings and which will be described indetail below. It :then engages'the sprocket lmvhi'ch .is t-actuated :in --a movement synchronous ito that xof the phonograph, the wheel I! will be connected by :a 'transmission :chain .or :some other device with ra shaft :of :the turntable.

'The:film shown Fig. is similar to :an ordinaryimotion pictureifilm :but it carries on ione .121 zitsiedgesnotchesfl which-constitute:thezmarkings. .The Figs. 13 and 24 show diagrammatically the element producing the release of :the actuating mechanism which causes ,the'wh'eel :4 to :turn. :lever .I I terminating .at :one "end in .a :nose :12 is ,pivoted ;at .18 .andza spring 8 has :a tendency to .maintain the nose A2 applied againstethe :edge of ithEJ'fiImEZ. ;Ataits.other end, the lever carries a fork -l4 between the prongs rof {Whiilh 5a :ciisc 1.5 :may rotate, the disc being traversed by -;.a pin sl 5., the ends of which .--,may come into contact 'with .able :mechanical or electric motor urges :to .rotate in .direction of .the arrow. .This movement anormally prevented ,hy the pin abut- .ting .the .prong of the fork 44. But when the :nose 4 2 is engaged in a notch .9, the :pin will he disengaged from the fork :and the .disc will rotate approximatelyrone revolution, whereupon the disc .Will-be stoppeddue to the :fact that .the pin .46 will abut againstthe second prong .of the fork which :is slightly back of the firstione. As soon ;as the -.nose :leaves :the notch, the :disc utotatesragain, but solely through 'a small angle-necessary zto bring the ;pin against .the first prongof the jiork.

:It-isqobvious :that 1 this escapement device -.which is. :however, known .in itself, has :been described here solely -:by away of example and can he re-- placed :by another :one.

' The disc 45 .having:made a revolution, zaetuates through a isuitable transmission the sprocket .4 :causes TthB :film .to advance the length f one image. While the wheel 4 stops, the portion of the film which is past said sprocket advances continuously by decreasing the size of the loop 5, the latter being enlarged each time that an image is substituted for another.

It is also obvious that without exceeding the scope of the invention, numerous modifications may be applied to the apparatus just described. For example, the escapement mechanism may be actuated electrically, the rocking movement of the lever l2 being produced by the passage of a current into an electromagnet. For this purpose, one might employ, for instance, the device shown diagrammatically in Fig. 5. The film l, the edge of which is not any more provided with notches but which has openings ll, passes against a metallic plate l8 being retained by a supporting plate 19. A nose 2| carried by a leaf spring 22 rests against this film, and upon the passage of an opening such as H, the nose comes into contact with the plate 18. In this position it closes an electric circuit containing a battery 23 and an electromagnet 24 which causes a lever l l similar to that of Fig. 3 to rock.

The electromagnet 24 might, furthermore, operate directly the feeding device.

It would also be feasible to employ the device shown in Fig. 6 wherein apertures 25 and '26 are provided opposite each other in the plate l8 and I9, and a luminous ray emanating from an optical system 21 strikes a photoelectric cell 28 when an opening I! passes in front of these windows. The cell then permits passage of a current which operates a system having an electromagnet, not shown. such as that of Fig. 5. The opening H in this instance, could be replaced by a transparent portion provided on an opaque strip of the film.

It will be understood that it is essential to maintain perfect synchronism between the movement of the markings such as the notches 9 and the movement of the phonograph disc, so that the changes of images should take place just at the instant at which the phonograph pronounces certain words. It will not be difiicult to maintain the speeds constantly equal by causing the wheel 4 land the turntable to be operated by the same motor. But also, it is necessary that the point of the filmcorresponding to the first words passes a predetermined point, for example the element 6, when these words are pronounced. Now, in

an ordinary disc, the first groove or grooves are not engraved, and it is only after a certain time that after having placed the needle on the margin of the disc, that the emission of sound begins. In order to provide for the synchronism, the film will primarily be arranged so that a special marking corresponding to the first words is located in front of the element 6, for example, and that the operator will couple the wheel 1 with the motor mechanism of the turntable at the instant at which the phonograph begins to talk. This coupling may be efiected in numerous ways, for example, by means of the device shown in Fig. '7.

The motor of the turntable causes a toothed wheel 29 mounted at the end of a lever 3i pivoted at 32 to ratate, by means of a suitable transmission. When this lever is lowered, the wheel 29 enters into engagement with a gear 33 which actuates the sprocket I. The lever 3| engages a cam 34 mounted on a shaft 35, and a spring 36 tends to lower it, placing the gears 29 and 33 into engagement. In order to bring about this engagement at the desired instant, that is, when the phonograph begins to speak, the operator has nothing else to do but to turn the shaft 35, for example by means of a button, not shown. It is obvious that many other coupling devices can be used.

Q control track along the length of said film, said picture track having a plurality of still pictures disposed at regular intervals along a predetermined length of the film strip for successive projection for irregular periods of time, said control track having an effective control length along a different predetermined length of said film strip, saidcontroltrack having spaced, discrete deformations successively disposed along the control track length, each deformation corresponding to a still picture and functioning to initiate an exposure cycle for its corresponding picture for a period of time directly proportional to the distance along the control track up to the succeeding deformation, when a new picture is to be projected, the part of a control track which is effective for its corresponding picture being movable in said system at a speed directly proportional to the speed of a sound track in the sound reproducing part of the system.

2. The film of claim 1 wherein said deformations comprise photographically contrasting spots against a film background in said control track whereby a particular deformation alters the light properties of the film.

3. In a system for providing synchronized sound reproduction and still projection, the improvement comprising a film projector having a film gate, means for advancing one picture of said film only through said gate for each operating cycle of said advancing means, a reproducing system for reproducing sound from a record which is physically independent of said picture film, said reproducing system including means for moving said sound record, means spaced from the projection gate for advancing film continuously, said film having a picture track with a plurality of still pictures disposed at regular intervals along a predetermined length of the film strip for successive projection for irregular periods of time, said film also having a control track having an effective control length along a difierent predetermined length of said film strip, said control track having spaced, discrete deformations successively disposed along the control track length, each deformation corresponding to a still picture, means for synchronizing said sound record moving means and said continuous film advancing means, means controlled by a film deformation for initiating an operating cycle to advance a still picture, said means being located near the continuous film advance means to cooperate with that portion of the film which is being continuously advanced. the film deformation which is efiective for initiating the operating cycle corresponding to the picture which it has caused to be moved into projecting position and being displaced therefrom along the length of film a sumcient distance to provide a film loop between the projecting gate and the continuous film advance means.

4. The system according to claim 3 wherein said film control track and deformations are sharply contrasting to control light transmission and wherein said means for initiating an operating cycle includes a source of light and a photoelectric cell cooperating with said track and said deformations.

5. The system according to claim 3 wherein said film deformations consist of cut-outs in the film and wherein said means for initiating an operating cycle includes at least one finger riding along the control track of said film.

6. The system according to claim 3 wherein said film deformations consist of cut-outs in the film and wherein said means for initiating an operating cycle includes at least one switch finger riding along the control track of said film and adapted to cooperate with an additional contact for controlling a circuit.

JULIEN HENRI COUTELEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Number 20 Number 6 UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Ivatts June 17, 1913 Kitsee Jan. 6, 1914 Greensfelder Jan. 29, 1918 Marette July 1, 1924 Hopkins Oct. 13, 1931 Golden et a1 May 24, 1932 Jenkins et a1 May 16, 1933 Wildhaber Aug. 8, 1933 Wood et al Jan. 8, 1935 Wier Apr. 23, 1935 Wier Apr. 7, 1936 Horn July 13, 1937 Jenkins et a1 May 3, 1938 Finch Nov. 8, 1938 Franklin Dec. 20, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date France May 6, 1940 

